For One More Day
by ama-chan13
Summary: During the time that the Cullens are separated and away from Forks, Carlisle is called to help a hospital in Seattle. His plans to secretly check on Bella while he's in the state are halted with his sad discovery within the walls of where he is to work.
1. Chapter 1

For One More Day

Carlisle's POV

* * *

I listened to Alice's report carefully before handing the phone to Esme. When I'd told her my decision, she'd looked ahead for me, and said nothing much about it, but that things should be ok. I sadly listened to Esme's disappointed sigh. Squeezing her shoulder, I nodded.

"Well, all right. Be safe you two. We love you, and we'll talk to you soon," she told them before hanging up.

We sat on the couch, waiting for the right thing to say. But nothing came; what was there to say? She knew how I felt, as I did she, and she knew what needed to be done-why I needed to go.

"I could get off work, I have some sick leave left…" she began, but stopped as I waved off the idea.

"No need. I'll just check in; I won't let her see me. Edward doesn't need to know. We're not disobeying him anyway," I told her. She sighed, leaning back against me. He had been terribly torn up about the whole thing; so had the rest of us, but not nearly as bad as he. He left us immediately, only bothering to take his cell phone before going. Jasper and Alice had already departed, and Rosalie and Emmett left shortly after. He'd viciously demanded that we not interfere, and he wouldn't talk to Jasper or Rosalie.

I kissed Esme goodbye, telling her I loved her as I grabbed my stuff and walked out.

"Call me when you can." she said.

I'd been called in to a tragic case in Washington. Kid was in a catatonic state after an accident or something-I hadn't heard the full story yet. They were studying him, trying to find a way to wake him up from it as his body tried to heal from its injuries. But, as these cases usually went, he was probably fading away into a vegetable, living by machines and never to awaken. I shook me head, sympathetic to the kid's family.

And of course, my trip brought me close to our former home of Forks, Washington. We'd decided that I could go check on Bella, just to make sure she was as all right, as Edward claimed she would be. I didn't doubt it much, and yet… I did. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts as I parked my car. Grabbing my luggage, I stepped towards another day.

--

As soon as we were in the air and allowed to roam the plane, I called Emmett and Rosalie, as Esme and I had planned. I quickly let them know my plan once I was sure they were out of Edward's 'hearing' range. Emmett was uneasy when he hung up, worried about the outcome, he said. I had hoped he would bring Rosalie around, but now I knew it wasn't going to happen. Even he was a hit hard by this change-he missed her as much as we did, and it showed. I hoped time would heal his wounds as it was supposed to heal Bella's.

I sighed as I pulled out my computer, bound on e-mailing the hospital for more information, when my phone rang again. It was Esme. "I called Edward and he's furious. He'll be calling in a minute. Be careful, we can't let him know. And make sure he's not coming there while he's talking to you, you don't need him 'reading' your intentions," she rushed. I agreed and let her know about the other two children of our house before hanging up. I breathed deeply, knowing he'd be calling any second…pulling in extra calm feelings from my surroundings. I was beginning to feel a bit like Jasper.

The phone rang impatiently.

"Hello?" I asked, but it didn't fool Edward.

"What are you doing? I told you to stay away! We've meddled enough!" he bellowed; I had to hold the phone away from my ear.

"Edward, I'm on a plane, people are trying to sleep. And relax, I'm not going anywhere near there. I'm landing in Seattle and driving over to Spokane-the OPPOSITE WAY from-"

"Don't even say it!" he hissed. "How do I trust you anyway? Why are you even over there in the first place? Sure they have enough medical staff that-" I cut him off, increasingly angry by the second.

"There is a kid who has been in an _accident _and is in _severe trauma_, his family _begged_ to have _anything _done to try and awaken him. On top of THAT the hospital's two best surgeons are very ill with that nasty flu that's been going around, which you would know _if _you would have been paying attention to anything besides _your _problems," I told him.

"Whatever. I'm coming to make sure anyway," he muttered viciously.

"_No_. I am your father, and I'm telling you that you are to _stay put_. I'm headed to Spokane as soon as I land. It's your fault it's this way anyway since you decided we _had_ to leave in the first place-" I bit my tongue, regretting my words instantly. I heard his howl in the phone and the it audibly clattered, then crunched as he smashed it in anger. As cruel as I knew I had been, I knew that it had to be done, and that it was for the best. It had been necessary. In an action I'd picked up from my first son, I pinched the bridge of my nose, groaning as I rested back into my seat.

"Kids. Some moments ya love 'em, others you want to rip their arms off," the lady next to me said. I opened my eyes to see her smiling sympathetically at me, her daughter asleep on her lap.

"Yeah," I said smiling slightly back at her. "You have no idea," I muttered, too quiet for anyone to hear but me.

* * *

A/N So what did you think? I had to start out slow, but hopefully things will pick up soon! sorry the first chapter is so small, I'm working diligently on the rest! Please please please read and review!

Peace outama


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When we landed and un-boarded the plane, I waved goodbye to the mother and daughter I'd made friends with on my flight. _Such a nice family_, I thought before I remembered my objective. I went to the car dealership and rented a car, fast but inconspicuous. I really hated driving so fast, but I had gotten a call during my flight saying I was wanted ASAP-they need help managing the hospital. When I pulled into the reserved parking, someone immediately came out to my car. I was told that they had had someone come in moments before that needed extensive surgery, and that they needed my help with it. I was assured the other kid's condition had not changed as I scrubbed up and followed him to where I was really needed.

"Are you sure you want to see 'im tonight?" he asked. I nodded, since I didn't need to sleep and wasn't famished to the point of wanting to hunt, why not? "Ok then. She came in here-" he began.

"She? I thought it was a boy?" I asked, surprised.

"Oh-no it's a girl. Anyway, she came in here a month ago, I think, wasn't too bad then mentally, but she'd gotten hit by a car they said. The injuries didn't seem to match up, but they insisted that was what happened. Then she got worse, poor thing's barely there anymore. Family's panicked, they're always in here but they already left for today. It's a long haul, but we thought you could–if nothing else-ease the family through this tough time. I'm afraid she won't last much longer-she's nearly on life support as it is," he said quietly. I nodded, feeling terrible for her family, how would they handle it? Such a loss. But I couldn't help but think of Edward; he hadn't seemed much better until he got to tracking for Victoria, and he still had bad episodes.

When I walked through the open door, I instantly knew how wrong I was. Even if Edward had needed such human necessities, this girl was by far much worse. The person this girl had been, was. . . hardly there, I realized with a gasp. I felt the floor approach my bent knees as I hardly recognized my reaction.

"Oh no…" I whispered.

I looked upon the wasted body of Bella Swan in horror.

A/N: So, the story really gets started here. And now, I shall leave you with my evil cliffy.

Well, I have to say I'm impressed. I got 8 alerts, 4 favorites, and 3 reviews! But, as impressed as I am, I also happen to be disappointed! I had really hoped for more reviews than that! Please please please review people! So special kudos to **sparklette, ****BookObsessed21**, and **Brown Eyed Vampire **for reviewing! I have made a decision- if you review, I will try to send you a bit of the next chapter early! (But no guarantees people, it's had enough as it is.) See you next round!

Peace out

ama


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A/N: I know you are all anxious to get on to the next chapter, so my notes will be saved for afterwards! Enjoy!

**The other doctor's POV**

I was astounded by the beautiful man's work-no wonder we had called him in to replace our two sick co-workers. "Are you sure you want to see 'im tonight?" I asked, referring to the one patient he'd been originally alerted about. He nodded so I explained what had happened to the girl. After his shocked discovery of the kid's gender, he listened carefully but also seemed to be in deep thought. I took him into her room, and he gazed around for a second, then jerked his head back to look at the girl again. He gasped softly when he truly saw her, and gently fell to his knees. I was surprised; sure the girl was in pretty sad shape and the whole thing was quite shocking, but hadn't he handled it before? Didn't we all? Either way, I extended my hand to help him up. After several long moments he seemed to recall my presence and stood, taking my hand lightly. My, his grip was cold! "Are you all right? Perhaps you shouldn't have…" I trailed off as he shook his head.

"Charlie-" he suddenly seemed to remember. "Where is he?" he asked.

"At his-" I cut off, then continued, speaking my exact thoughts, "How do you know Charlie? Her father, you mean, yes? Do you know her?" I asked.

He murmured, "Yes, I do. If you would give me a moment, please?" he asked, gazing back at the girl. I quickly exited the room. That was too bad, no wonder he was so taken aback. I think Charlie might have even mentioned that they knew each other once, but I had been so busy I hardly could remember. Carlisle came out of the room, pulling a cell phone from his pocket.

"I'll be around, all right? Take it easy, and get some rest. I'm sure tomorrow will be plenty busy," I told him. He nodded, and seeing my unspoken question said, "I'm calling my wife. She'll want to know." Hm. I nodded again and walked back towards my office. It had been a long day.

**Carlisle's POV**

"Esme? It's me. You won't believe this but-" I began, but she cut me off.

"It's Bella, right? Alice saw this all; she said things would've turned out poorly had she said or done anything different than she did. She wants to apologize, she and Jasper actually are here, now," she quickly explained.

"What does she see now?" I asked. I heard the phone switching hands.

"Well, I'm seeing a lot of different things. She will react to you tomorrow, but not enough. I think we both know what needs to happen. That's the only way she's going to wake up," she said quietly. I sighed; I knew it too.

"How do we get him here then?" I asked.

"We'll work on that. You need to go be Dr. Cullen now. We'll call you when we have something, just leave our cell on," she said. I could hear the small smile in her tone. "Talk to you later then."

I smoothly entered Bella's room in seconds. I browsed over her file, listening closely as I read. Bella's breathing sounded a little better, more natural right now than it had when I first walked in. I frowned, why was that? Was it my scent?

"Bella?" I murmured, going to her bedside. "Bella, it's Dr. Cullen-Carlisle-do you remember me?" I asked softly. Her body twitched infinitesimally, as if she was dreaming, but no more. I rested my hand on her shoulder, wincing at the hollow feel-her body had suffered too. I stood slowly, then moved away, knowing Alice was right. Only _he_ could wake her up. A small noise interrupted my thoughts.

"Everything all right, Dr. Cullen?" a female voice asked. I turned to see the nurse come in. She checked Bella's vitals, waiting for my answer.

"I'm fine," I replied, and then exited the room. It was time to "hit the hay". Of course, I knew no sleep would come my way. My thoughts from earlier resumed: _Like that animated movie…Sleeping Beauty…_

**Esme's POV**

I had been surprised enough when Jasper and Alice showed up, then by the fact of their appearance. Carlisle's new patient was Bella. When he hung up I could see the gears turning in Jasper's mind as they tried to find a solution to our dilemma. I sat and listened to Jasper's ideas and Alice's comments, adding my own occasionally.

It wasn't looking great.

Alice saw us calling him and him running off, him getting angry and refusing to come, lots of negative, no positive, results. We considered going after him to bring him here, but he always got away from us. We thought about luring him close, making sure he couldn't run off, and then telling him, but Alice wouldn't even tell us the results of that-it had her shuddering. Finally we came up with tricking him, telling him a range of different things. Some seemed to work, while others obviously wouldn't. Alice opened her eyes and grimaced at Jasper and I. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders protectively.

"I've got it; I know how we'll trick him. It's going to be difficult and risky too, but it's the only way," she said quietly.

"Rosalie and Emmett?" Jasper asked, guessing her thoughts.

"I wasn't going to have them, but it's necessary. Esme, will you call them? Beg them to visit, then when they get here we'll tell them our plan. We're going to have to wait a bit to make this work, and then we'll need to hurry because Charlie's losing it and Bella is getting worse. He's almost ready to give up," she said, in a whisper at the end.

"Poor Charlie," I murmured, picking up the phone. I dialed quickly, shifting my thoughts to my other "children".

A/N: Sorry it's so short! I made two plans on how to write this, and I like the first one better, so this chapter was shorter than I thought. I think it'll be easier for me to just update short chapters in quick succession rather than long ones.

Well, I'm astounded, amazed, shocked, stunned, and any other adjective of the same degree as those you can think of. YOU GUYS ROCK!! I got (and this was totally amazing): **23** reviews, and now have a total of **26 alerts, and 14 favorites! **Thank you all so much! I know I said I would be sending you a snippet of the next chapter, but now I'm not sure I will be able to! I figured I would only get like 3 reviews and so it would be easily possible to send anyone who reviewed a snippet early but now I have decided it would just be easier to update more often-or as often as I can! Thank you all so much yet again, and I am already working diligently on the next chapter!

Rock on

ama


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

A/N: I can't believe how wimpy (how short in length I mean) these chapters are! I truly apologize for being away so long-full details later. For now, enjoy the next chapter!

Carlisle's POV

I was a great help to the hospital, they claimed. Surprisingly, I only ever heard one comment about Bella since I'd figured out it was her.

"Poor thing got in a nasty accident, I suppose. Her father stumbled on her, sadly enough. It's torn him up. I hope you can do her-or at least him-some good," the nurse had said.

I hadn't had time for a few days to visit Bella, but when I finally did I found Charlie there, his chair pulled up close to his daughter. He was a mess, his hair astray, his eyes slightly sunken, and below them purple shadows to be compared to my own.

"Charlie?" I asked. He looked up in surprise and stood. His expression turned from exhausted to angry for a split second before returning to tired.

"Dr. Cullen. Can-" he began, but I silenced him with my hand.

"Please, sit Charlie. It's just Carlisle. And I'm trying my best. Actually, she's been doing better these last few days," I soothed, pulling up a chair for myself.

"You're right. She definitely seems better today," he replied, looking back at Bella. He faced me again, a small, tired smile lighting up his face. It faded only infintesimally as he spoke again. "How's the family?" he asked quietly. I decided that the truth would be comforting to him.

"Angry with me. They miss Bella very much, especially Edward, I believe. He won't even talk to me, and hasn't since we moved. As much as I love Forks, they really needed help down there, and the offer was wonderful. But now I'm taking jobs wherever help is needed. Esme and I aren't sure what we're going to be doing next, but she's home now. I came on my own, figuring I wouldn't be here too long," I told him.

Charlie's mouth opened to speak, but my cell phone began to ring. "Sorry, but they don't call me here unless it's really important. I'll be right back," I said. He nodded, and I left the room. Esme told me the plan they had worked on all week, and told me to expect Edward to call. He'd been told that a vampire was in the area and that the family was moving closer in case I needed help. When I hung up and started for the door, it rang again.

"Hello," I said; he would know that I knew he was calling.

"Hey Carlisle. Everything okay?" he asked in a rush.

"Yes, I'm fine. I think it just caught whiff off me and came to investigate," I replied with a sigh.

"I'm coming in closer, same as the others. Sure you don't want me there? I know enough that I could-"

I cut him off, slightly irritated. "Honestly Edward, I'm fine. If I need you, I'll call, okay? I need to go-you interrupted me from something important," I explained.

"Oh, sorry. Bye then," Edward responded, and I heard the phone click. I sighed, putting the phone back in my pocket as I entered the room. Charlie was sitting at Bella's side, and I pulled up my own chair as I spoke.

"Sorry about that. I meant to ask you, what exactly happened to Bella when we left?" He stared blankly at me as he began.

"We couldn't find her... I had a search team out looking for her when I couldn't find her, no one had seen her. Finally, Sam Uley brought her back... She was a mess," he said, then inhaled, looking solemnly at his feet as he continued. "She kept saying, 'He's gone'... She was completely out of it. Doctor Gerundy said she was all right; she wasn't physically hurt or anything. For several months she was completely gone, living physically, but not mentally. She'd go to school, earn good grades, but ignored her friends till they stopped calling. The only time she'd really respond was when we tried to send her to live with Renee, and she threw a fit. The second time we tried it, she seemed to wake up. It was tentative for a while, but then she started seeing her friend Jacob Black. The screaming-she screamed terribly at night, nothing I did helped, nothing stopped it till she started seeing him again-didn't stop permanently at first, but after a while it just disappeared."

The door opened and a nurse asked if we needed anything. I told her, 'Just water for Mr. Swan, here,' and she left. Charlie took a deep breath, shifted to see me again, and continued his story.

"So she seemed to be getting better. She hung out with her friends again, started really living. But one afternoon she was heading down to meet him. I hadn't heard from her all day...," he said, trailing off.

"Seemed to be...?" I prodded, confused.

"I called down to the reservation, but Jacob didn't even know she was coming. They met me in town to look for her, and when we split up Jacob came with me. He's been worried about Sam and whatnot, much like Bella has these past... Well, so much time passed between then and now that I'm not sure. Anyway, we found her on the side of the highway. I... froze, I guess. Jacob called the ambulance, and others, I guess. I was too out of it to notice. And then... Suddenly the ambulance was there and I was going and... and...," he trailed off, tears leaking again.

"Easy, Charlie, she's getting better. Please, just tell me what happened," I murmured, patting the poor man's shoulder. He nodded, wiping his face.

"It seemed she's been walking down to see Jacob-I'm really not sure why she was walking, I guess her truck broke down, because it was parked along the side of the highway, about a mile and a half from where we found her, I think. The doctors said that it hadn't been long since it had happened from the time we found her, that it was very good that we had done so so soon. Her wounds were absolutely horrible, mind blowing. Nothing I'd ever seen could compare to it. It didn't appear as if a car had hit her, but I couldn't really tell. Her injuries healed pretty well over time, but never did she regain consciousness. The doctors performed surgery to remove something small lodged in her skull, and they had warned that she might go into a coma. I didn't believe them, but I turned out wrong. Her physical condition seemed all right for a while afterward, but has been declining to the state of a vegetable this past week or so, I'm not exactly sure how long. I don't know what to do, how long to wait for her," he ended quietly, his eyes on the verge of overflowing again.

As if on cue, the door opened to reveal none other than Jacob. Even he looked more gaunt than usual, but his height and overall size had increased yet again, I realized. He moved to join Charlie, but stopped when he recognized who I was. His eyes widened in shock and his mouth popped open.

Abruptly, the room shifted. Jacob took up much more space than he should seem to, and he was shaking, apparently upset. His face lost its surprised expression and he appeared to be very angry. He stood as the shaking worsened, and Charlie, seeing this, got to his feet.

"Jacob, easy, it's all right. Dr. Cullen is here to help. Bella is doing better," he said, with a faint smile that vanished when he rested his hand on Jacob's arm. "Jacob, you're burning up! Are you all right?" he barely managed to squeak as he pulled back his hand from the heat Jacob emitted. Things clicked in my mind as I heard the tiny growl forming in Jacob's throat, something that Charlie's dim human senses could not pick up. I quickly ushered Charlie from the room.

"Oh my, you're right Charlie! I'd better get him in bed right away. I'll set it up by Bella for the moment until we can find him a proper place. Listen, I need you to leave for a minute so I can deal with Jacob, okay?" I asked in a rush, probably hard for Charlie to understand, but he nodded and departed. As soon as the door slammed shut, I whirled around, dropping my clipboard and such as the room seemed to explode all at once.

A/N ok so you all heard about my mysterious disappearance and all that in my author's note. So, what did you think? Good or bad? I know I left you with an evil cliffy yet again, and I'm sorry about that but the next chapter is not quite ready yet. I'm super busy with soccer, school and trying not to die from the weight of my backpack! Kudos to Dr. Bubbles for beta-ing once again, and to Brown Eyed Vampire who clearly stated that she was getting impatient and that she would not be updating her story until I updated mine. Dr. Bubbles also said to explain that yes obviously Jacob DID transform, and that this is actually ….no I'll tell you that later.

Ah! Shame on you Dr. Bubbles you missed two misspelled words! Oh well, I really could care less. More to come as …long as it takes, but I'll try to hurry. Anyway, noodles! ama


	5. AN sorry plz read

HEY PEOPLE WHO ARE READING THIS STORY

I am too lazy to rewrite what I wrote in my bio here for you. Sorry about that. I have to get off in a minute, so instead of writing the same notice again, please visit my umm page with stories and stuff, and take the time to read the CURRENT UPDATE SECTION in my profile/bio, for an update on my progress on the story. Thanks very much.

GO CHECK IT OUT!!

ama


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